FEMALE PERSPECTIVE ON QUALITY OF MEDICAL EDUCATION EVALUATION IN INDIA

Background: The medical educational environment affects the mental and professional growth of female and male students in many ways. This may be measured by many tools but Dundee Ready Education Environment Measure (DREEM) tool is a globally validated and accepted tool to assess the educational environment in a medical college. Methods: The present study was conducted at Kalpana Chawla Government Medical College, Karnal, Haryana, India. The MBBS undergraduate female and male students were enrolled in the study and the DREEM tool was used to assess and compare educational climate among them. Results: A total of 246 students participated in the study out of which 95 (38.62%) were females. The overall mean score was 2.43±0.62, which was interpreted as an educational aspect that could be further enhanced. The total DREEM score was 121.6 (60.8%), which was interpreted as more positive than negative. The mean age of the females was 19.63±1.54 vs 19.69±1.61. More than 50% were female students in 2^nd phase. The females scored maximum in academics (70.97% vs 56.66% in males). Females felt socially less secure (53.5% vs 65.04% in males). Conclusion: Dreem tool is a very effective tool to comparatively evaluate the educational environment of female and male students of a medical college. The medical college was interpreted to move in the right direction with a scope of improvement. The results of this study will help the medical institute to resolve the gender disparities (if any) and to plan and implement measures to enhance the education environment among female as well as male students.